My Love of Figure Drawing Continues to Grow

Isn't it such a wonderful feeling to fall in love with your favorite hobby over and over and over again? At this point in my life I have been drawing from live figures on and off for 25 years now... amazing, right? Time flies! I actually was able to start a little earlier than most, at age 16 with my parents permission, at a local artist,s weekly open figure studio.

Suffice to say by now I've done it a few times… but drawing from a live model literally never gets old to me. Whether it’s timed as a quick or long session, whether the model is young or old, male or female, more or less fit… it really doesn't matter. As long as I can pull out a few of my favorite drawing supplies, mellow out with some good music, and have even adequate lighting I am completely in my happy place.

If you've been following along here for a while, you remember I went to the weekly figure drawing open studio in Honolulu almost the entire four years I was on island, and then tried to find random sessions while I was floating around for a little while in my van and then of course covid hit, so I didn't quite have a steady place to draw live models for quite a while. Of course starting to teach figure drawing helps immensely, but I am obviously there to help my students rather than focus on my own art, so I only get to draw a for few minutes here and there.

This model had the most delicate and ethereal swan-like neck. It made her look like a walking piece of art in real life!

But over about the last year I have now settled nicely into a Thursday night routine at our local fine arts studio, Townsend Atelier. This one is different than the spot in Honolulu and that each of their poses lasts the entire evening, two hours and 20 minutes not including the breaks, rather than a changing series of 20 minute poses. So I'm able to work at a larger scale and get the full body rather than having to pick and choose only the most interestingly contrasted area as before. 

Throughout this post I am sharing my favorite ones. Each one measures 10x13 inches, took about 2hr20 to complete, and was drawn using Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils on Canson Mi-Tientes paper. Enjoy!

I’ve also been enjoying being able to put more time into the cloth draped around the figure as well.

And I may have saved the best for last…. 🙌

What do you think… Quietly elegant, or what?!

6.24.2025

2023 New Year's Studio Update

Aloha fellow artists! Hope you’re staying snug! I just got back from the holidays in Florida at my parents’ house and it’s cold up here!

Today I'm keeping it casual with a little update studio vlog discussing how 2022 went for me (artistically speaking) and what you all can expect from me here on YouTube in 2023. I know it’s been a little ‘ebb and flow’ for me here on my blog and on YouTube this year, but I promise the news in the video is good!

Thank you to everyone who tunes in year after year and welcome and thank you to the folks who joined in 2022 pushing me over that 10k mark! I sure do feel lucky to have each and every one of you:):):) Cheers to 2023!!

1.8.2023

A Big 'No Go' to the Van Gogh Immersion Experience

Vincent Van Gogh was one of the least appreciated artists of the 19th century, yet has become one of the most famous artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, especially these days considering his artworks are no longer protected by copyright.

That's right, his artworks can literally be used, reproduced, and profited off of by anyone in the world now... but should they?

Today I want to share with you some of the ethical concerns I see arising from this wave of Van Gogh immersive experiences popping up in cities all across the US. I'm sure it will be a fun experience for those that choose to attend, but being an art history teacher and knowing so much about Van Gogh's last years and the suffering he endured, I have a few ethical concerns to share regarding this traveling exhibit that you may be interested in learning for yourself.

Here are the images I shared in the video. The first ones are Vincent Van Gogh and the last four are by his friend and notable artist Paul Gauguin who moved to Tahiti where he became known for painting the local women.

After watching the video, I would love to hear what you think of random companies being able to profit so heavily off of art they find in the public domain. While I think the ability to access old artworks, songs, and other creative accomplishments as copyright free and able to be built off of long after the artist has passed on is a wonderful part of our society, turning that work into an exclusionary event just feels wrong. Leave me your thoughts here or on the video comments!

7.4.2021

10 Lessons Learned from a Lifelong Artist

Sometimes we wish we could go back in time and give advice to ourselves as a younger artist, such as words of encouragement or tips to start growing an audience right out of art school.

Today I've got a video for you sharing advice that my younger artist self would have loved to get a little earlier than I actually did, which may be right on time for your art journey now!

No two art careers ever look exactly the same, but if you'd like some guidance navigating your own personal artistic journey, pop over to my website and check out all the different (and surprisingly affordable!) mentorship opportunities I have available for you.

In a nutshell…

1. Gallery representation is far from the only way to make it as an artist

2. Begin building up your own name recognition as soon as possible

3. Create your own collaborative events or happenings

4. Learn skills like marketing and bookkeeping

5. Be your own best advocate - get excited about your artwork!

6. Only take advice from other successful creatives on the path you wish to take

7. Say 'yes!' to as many artistic opportunities as possible

8. Be active in your local artistic community

9. Build up other digital skills to showcase your work in the best ways possible

10. Never stop learning and honing your skills - seek outside help when you need it!

And when you are ready for a little outside help of your own, check out the variety of mentorship packages I offer to assist in any stage along your artistic journey.

6.6.2021

Making Art with Snow!

Brrr! What a cold week! Didn't it seem like I was just in my sports bra and shorts on top of a tropical mountain on O'ahu and suddenly I'm here freezing my feathers off in Nashville, Tennessee?!

Yikes! What happened?!

Luckily I'm in a safe spot, just stocked up on groceries, and my awesome new artsy job cancels when it's this icy on the road so I've had the luxury or being able to do some healthy baking, snuggle up, and have my own little mini snow excursions around the nature areas of my new apartment complex. I even figured out the perfect spot to do some indoor plein air landscape painting with gouache right out my window so I wouldn't freeze my fingers off trying to set up to paint outside. Yay!

I hope you enjoy this vlog as much as I enjoyed making it for you! Here's a playlist of some other art + adventure vlogs from my travels.

Shoutout to Study Girl at Chilled Cow for the best snowy day streaming music.

Please stay safe, stay inside, and drive slow! Here are a few links you may find helpful should something go wrong:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-to-survive-a-power-outage-in-winter/432226 https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/15/us/power-outage-winter-storm-how-to-trnd/index.html

And a place to donate to those in Texas who have lost power: https://breadoflifeinc.org/

2.21.2021

Holiday Vlog 2020

I really hope you are able to find some peace and happiness during this Holiday season, even though most of us won't be able to spend them with the folks we love the most. If you find yourself with a little extra solo time (yep, even more than 2020 has already given us) then consider investing some love into your art biz or art practice. The best thing we can do for ourselves in any situation is to never stop learning:)

So enjoy this quickie vlog while I take my own kind of holiday, and look below for a pile of links to help you brush up on your knowledge during some down time this week.

References:

How to Set Up an Online Art Store

Complete Guide to Oil Painting

Hand Drawing Workshop

How to Clean + Organize Your Art Studio

How to Write an Artist Statement

How to Write an Artist CV

11.22.2020

Parrot Skull Oil Painting + Update Vlog

Have you ever seen a parrot skull? I honestly hadn't til I found this royalty free image to paint from - it's so wild right??

Today I wanted to give you a few studio updates while I share the painting of this bird skull in oil. Namely, that I’m going to be running polls and questions in my Instagram Stories and on my YouTube community tab in order to get you know YOU, my lovely audience, better so that I can make the kind of artwork and videos that you love to see!

It will be 8 days of ‘Hi, How ya doin??’ starting Wednesday September 23 so don’t miss it!

If you'd like to know more details about how I paint bones, check out this recent human skull painting workshop on my website or Skillshare, or catch the 3D process here on YouTube.

How to Paint a Skull in Oil:

https://skl.sh/2YECFZJ

https://gumroad.com/l/how-to-paint-a-skull-with-oil-paint

3D Skull Trio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLf_l1zV3E4

9.20.2020

Studio Vlog :: Upcoming Workshops + Nest News

Aloha friends, it’s been a minute since I’ve shared a behind-the-scenes peek into the Nest so I figured this hot July afternoon was a perfect time to sit in the AC for a spell and spill the Birdie tea.

I’ve got two exciting tutorials coming out! One is a detailed workshop in how to draw hands (see this post from last week), and the other is about how to paint skulls in a very lifelike way (right here). I also share a few adventures I’ve been lucky enough to go outside for and my latest 3D painting.

Make sure to grab some new stickers here too!

And to check out my unbelievable Art Mentoring pandemic rates and to see if working with me will be the right fit, read up all about what I offer as a mentor and teacher here.

7.19.2020

Clown Portrait Commission

Whelp, I’ve thought long and hard, and I think I’ve decided to give it all up for clown portraiture…

I just dropped off my latest commission yesterday and what an exciting spot it was indeed! My mom’s neighbor tapped me to repaint the badly damaged doorway portrait of Toby the Clown, who is the namesake of a local clown museum and school. It was my first time in the building and wow, I can honestly say I have never been in the midst of so much clown art in my life!

Although this is definitely one of my sillier commissions, I’m actually very honored to be asked to repaint this portrait because although Toby has passed away, he is beloved by many folks, including lots of other local clowns, and the folks who’ve seen the painting already say his warm and friendly personality really shines through, which means a lot to a portrait artist who has never met her subject in person.

They were super sweet and gave me a special surfing clown figurine since they knew I’m still fresh from the island life - so adorable. I was actually nicely surprised with the quality of some of the paintings. Check out the two portraits on the left in this pic, they were done by Red Skelton!

Below you can see the damage done to the original painting by the outdoor elements. I repainted it in oil, which will hold well but the gals down at the clown museum understand the face will probably need to be repainted every 3-5 years no matter what.

It’s definitely not what I’m used to, but I’ll take a great learning experience any time! I can officially add ‘Clown Portraiture’ into my repertoire now - ha!

Literally a few thousand figurines in the collection! Not exactly where I’d want to sleep at night, but totally awesome nonetheless!

5.28.2020

Daily Vlog, Day One

I had an amazing epiphany when trying to dive in and figure out what my particular audience wants so that I can figure out how to give it to them, which is, in a nutshell, how all successful creators get to be as such.

I’m not going to post them here or on YouTube, you can only find my artsy advice and real world rants, tips, and musings on my Instagram. I’m posting a new 3-5 minute vlog every single day, just as a way to check in with my patrons and supporters.

But just because I want to make sure you know how silly candid Caleigh can be (and to dangle the ole IG carrot just a lil..) I’ve uploaded just the first introductory vlog in a secret video that can only be viewed here.

Enjoy! If you mention this blog post to me on IG I’ll make sure to follow you back! xo

5.27.2020